February 2024 Wrap-Up
The Good and the Green
Amy Yorke
A city girl trying to make the rent finds something priceless in a cozy cottage in the magical kingdom of Wilderise
When Alison Lennox learns of her surprise inheritance of a country estate, she knows exactly what to do: sell it. Her late father set her on the path to career success and gleaming dwarven high rises, not backbreaking labor and leaky thatched roofs.
All she needs to do to keep her life on track is get in, flip the cottage, and get out, hopefully with a pocket full of coin for the effort. The only problem? Everything in the nearby village is annoyingly charming. The quaint shops, the sweet little old ladies, the adorable talking cat.
And reclusive doctor Keir Ainsley is the worst of them all. At first, he’s good and irritating, and he’s definitely wrong about where his property ends and hers begins. But then he has to go and save her life from a DIY disaster. And then he shows her that under his bristly exterior, there’s a tenderness that feels familiar and right.
But the town does have a problem. A mysterious vine is spreading through the land, choking out everything in its path. “Cute cottage; minor overgrowth issue–probably not poisonous” isn’t going to work as a real estate listing, but that’s not all that’s wrong. The deeper her connection to Keir and the town grows, the further she strays from the life her father wanted for her.
And she’ll have to dig deep into the town’s thorny past to have any hope of stopping the vine.
Shadows Within the Fire: Volume I
Megan L. Adams
A curse of fire. Dark shadows and pain. There’s only a fine line between control and chaos. Evren is a young fae coming of age, but not her powers. She’s always been viewed as a pawn by her father, pushed aside by her mother, but adored by her brother. Now she is forced into a mating bond with an abusive male. Tired of being used by the men in her life, she runs. Though she’s lived a life of isolation and pain, she knows deep down she was made for more.
Delrik, The Hunter, has a hidden past and is trying to find a way to atone for all the atrocities he committed during the war. Darkness and death follow in his wake wherever he goes and whomever he hunts. The internal struggle between desiring solitude and an unknown force pulling him in a new direction has him questioning everything.
Fate throws Evren and Delrik together in a dangerous game of trust and love, altering the path of their futures. They have to set aside their fears and figure out a way to stop dangerous magic from falling into the hands of a High Ruler on the precipice of a takeover.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
V.E. Schwab
A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
The Inmate
Freida McFadden
The guiltiest people aren’t always the ones behind bars…
There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison:
- Treat all prisoners with respect.
- Never reveal any personal information.
- Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates.
But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary’s most notorious and dangerous inmates.
And they certainly don’t know that Shane was Brooke’s high school sweetheart—the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke’s testimony was what put him there.
But Shane knows.
And he will never forget.
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black
Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
The Lost Sisters
Holly Black
Sometimes the difference between a love story and a horror story is where the ending comes…
While Jude fought for power in the Court of Elfhame against the cruel Prince Cardan, her sister Taryn began to fall in love with the trickster, Locke.
Half-apology and half-explanation, it turns out that Taryn has some secrets of her own to reveal.
The Lost Sisters is a companion e-novella to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince by master writer Holly Black.
Land of Snow and Secrets
Sonya Lawson
In the Winterlands, cold duty and fiery desire collide.
Prince Ghel of the Winterland Fae, more warrior than ruler, hears the icy winds of rebellion knocking at the palace gates. He’s fought many battles before, but the king and queen don’t need his sword or quick healing—they need him to marry a stranger to placate enemies and solidify alliances.
Lady Strella, raised alone by a critical and ambitious father, lives a quiet life on his estate, avoiding the Winterland Court—until she’s told she’s marrying a prince. Always gracious, she complies, despite the prophecy she’s kept hidden since childhood.
Both have reservations about their arranged marriage, but when they meet, the magical spark between them is undeniable. Yet, as their desire grows, the rebellion and the secrets they keep from one another loom.
Can their heat melt their icy facades so they can combine powers for the good of themselves and their land, or will the shadows of war and their own fears stop them cold?
Land of Snow and Secrets is the first book in a new series of steamy fantasy romances combining delicious elements of Bridgerton and ACOTAR.
The Fairkind
Randolph Kuczer
A teenage girl risks everything to pursue her first love…with a human.
After the sudden death of her clairvoyant mother, seventeen-year-old Jane is even more apprehensive about attending her new school for magic. And Duplicity, the horrid girl who shoots to the top of their class, is delighted to inform the entire school when Jane doesn’t present any magical abilities like everyone else. Jane begins to wonder if her less-than-extraordinary existence might be better suited somewhere else—somewhere like the human realm.
Far away from the magical forest she comes from, Jane bravely crosses into the mysterious land of man, desperate to find acceptance. A kind rancher takes her in and puts her to work in his stables, offering her a chance at a normal human life. But the wild urges she gets around his devastatingly attractive son threaten to upend her newfound contentment. Not to mention, her life—if anyone uncovers her true ancestry.
The Wicked King
Holly Black
The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince.
You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.
The first lesson is to make yourself strong.
After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.
When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.
The Paris Orphans
Suzanne Kelman
Clutching her suitcase tightly to hide her trembling hands, Charlotte takes a steadying breath. This is the most dangerous thing she has ever done, but the lives of five innocent children are depending on her. I can do this…
Paris, 1943: As Charlotte rushes into the station, she can feel the unmistakable chill of being watched. Turning her head, she catches the eye of a Nazi guard, and forces herself to slow down. Not today, please not today…
Reaching the platform, she sees her sisters Isabelle, Madeline, Antoinette and Gigi waiting with five children, fear etched onto their young faces. As she gets closer, Charlotte can see each child has a faded patch on their coat where a yellow star has been carefully unpicked.
Once she and the children are onboard, Charlotte turns and stares down at her sisters on the platform. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tries to imprint their beloved faces in her mind. And as the whistle blows, she presses her hand to the cold glass, murmuring a silent prayer that her sisters will be safe, and that they will all meet again…
As she turns her attention back to the children in her care, her heart breaks to see tears glistening in their eyes. Taking a deep breath, she promises that they will be safe, that she won’t let anything happen to them. But has Charlotte just made a promise she can’t possibly keep?
The prequel to the Paris Sisters series, this short story tells a tale of bravery and determination in the face of the darkness of the Second World War. Perfect for fans of Roberta Kagan, Kristin Hannah, and Fiona Valpy.
Now it’s your turn!
Share your February reads and let’s discuss — what were your favorite reads from the past month? Or is there a book you’re looking forward to this month? Any new discoveries or treasured rereads? We’d love to see your recommendations and thoughts!
